Dr. Dre – Compton (2015)

March 2, 2024

It is truly difficult for me to comprehend how much of a failure Compton was. I mean, I’m not alone in this line of thinking but it is not a universally held opinion. In fact, I should instead be writing about my surprise at how well this record has been received over the years. With both The Chronic and Chronic 2001 being up there in my favourite rap albums of all time, upon release I was crushed by the sheer mediocrity of Compton. Bullshit trappy production and crooning morons drenched in autotune. A sign of the times perhaps, but an aural experience that made want to vomit up several of my own organs.

Upon returning to this almost a decade later, I can appreciate what Dre was going for, but it’s still a colossal shower of shit, in my book. The good Dr’s verses are (oddly) some of his best from any album, but this bizarre anomaly does not save the rest of the record. As lush as the production is, all it does is prop up a bunch of silly fucking wankers slathering their bars in fucking autotune. I cannot abide it, my friends. I cannot. Oh, and if you thought Chronic 2001 had a silly amount of guest spots, Compton takes the absolute fucking piss. It is very easy to forget that this is even a Dr. Dre album. There is absolutely nothing memorable or stand-out in regards to his signature production style. It is, quite simply, shite.

I appreciate this is an “old man shouts at cloud” style of review, and some contributors bring some excellent bars, but bars save not a whole album. Get to fuck with this weak shite.